


The Wisdom of Forethought and Distraction

by stillskies



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-04
Updated: 2012-03-04
Packaged: 2017-11-01 03:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/351674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillskies/pseuds/stillskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuuko sends him on a mission with Doumeki and Himawari.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wisdom of Forethought and Distraction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aishuu Yamada (Aishuu)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/gifts).



> Written for round 1 of [Dimension Shop](http://dimension-shop.livejournal.com/)

"Absolutely not," Watanuki said firmly. “I am not involving Himawari-chan in one of your schemes, Yuuko-san.”

Yuuko smiled and sipped her tea before replying. “But you would involve Doumeki-kun?”

Watanuki glared. “He’s the one who decides to come along. I tell him not to.”

“So,” she reasoned, “if Himawari-chan were to decide to come along, of her own free will, then you would not stop her?”

Mokona hopped onto the table and gave Watanuki a thumbs up while Maru and Moro danced around him, chanting ‘free will, free will’ like some demented prayer.

“Himawari-chan won’t go,” he maintained. “So long as she doesn’t know about it, then there’s no way for her to decide to go.”

“Is that so?” Yuuko asked. “It’s unfortunate that Doumeki-kun is on his way to collect her right now, then, isn’t it?”

“What?” he shrieked. “Yuuko-san!”

“He was the one who offered,” she said lightly. “I assure you that this errand is relatively harmless.”

-

Harmless, she’d said. Right. Nothing his employer had him do was ‘harmless,’ he thought as he stalked down the street. He was supposed to meet Himawari-chan and Doumeki at the park, and then head to whatever location Yuuko-san had decided to send them. Doumeki, apparently, had the address.

He reached the park to find Doumeki and Himawari-chan huddled together near the slide, heads bowed in conversation. Immediately, he frowned and began moving a bit faster, heading towards them.

“-ut maybe we should tell Watanuki-kun,” Himawari-chan was saying. “It’s not right to keep him in the dark about this.”

In the dark about what? Watanuki thought suspiciously. Before Doumeki could reply, Watanuki called out, “Himawari-chan! Sorry you had to wait so long!” and inserted himself neatly between the two, sparing a look over his shoulder to acknowledge Doumeki.

“We didn’t wait long at all, did we, Doumeki-kun?” Himawari-chan replied brightly. “We just got here.” Tanpopo chirped in affirmation from her shoulder.

“Hello, Tanpopo,” Watanuki said, digging through his pockets and pulling out some sunflower seeds. “You must be cold,” he continued, addressing Himawari-chan. “And I bet that jerk didn’t even think about the weather.”

“I’m fine, Watanuki-kun,” she said, smiling reassuringly.

Watanuki shrugged off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. “You can use mine, Himawari-chan.”

“But I really am fine,” Himawari-chan protested, looking back and forth between Doumeki and Watanuki. “And won’t you be cold, Watanuki-kun?”

“I’ll be all right, Himawari-chan,” Watanuki said. “I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

“Only idiots catch colds, anyway,” Doumeki said, dropping his own jacket on Watanuki’s head.

“What are you doing, Doumeki?” Watanuki growled, pulling the jacket off of his head and glaring at Doumeki. “And who’s an idiot, you jerk?”

“I call it like I see it,” Doumeki said with a smirk. “Besides, I’m fine.”

“If you get sick, don’t expect me to bring you any food,” Watanuki warned, pulling the jacket on. It was bigger than he thought, and really warm, but whether that was from the material or from the fact that Doumeki had been wearing it, he didn’t know. “We should get going, anyway. Where are we supposed to be doing, Doumeki?”

He noticed Doumeki and Himawari-chan glance at each other for a second before Doumeki said, “I’m hungry.”

Watanuki blinked. “You’re hungry?” he repeated. “We have a JOB to do, Doumeki, and you’re HUNGRY?”

“I am, too,” Himawari-chan said apologetically.

“Well, we should get something to eat then, shouldn’t we?” Watanuki said, smiling at Himawari-chan. Doumeki smirked again and Watanuki glared at him. “Do you have a problem, Doumeki?”

“No,” Doumeki replied. “Let’s go.”

“There’s this nice tea house around the corner,” Himawari-chan said. “They have very good sandwiches, and their tea is delicious.”

“That sounds great, Himawari-chan,” Watanuki replied happily. Maybe, he thought, this wouldn’t turn out so bad, even if Doumeki was tagging along. After all, Doumeki wouldn’t let anything happen to him, and he since Watanuki wasn't going to let anything happen to Himawari-chan, that meant Doumeki wouldn’t let anything happen to Himawari-chan.

“What are you smirking about?” Doumeki asked as they were being seated in the restauraunt.

“Nothing,” Watanuki replied smugly, pulling out Himawari-chan’s chair for her.

Doumeki raised an eyebrow but said nothing, pulling out Watanuki’s chair for him. Watanuki sat down before realizing it and glared.

“Doumeki-kun and Watanuki-kun get along so well,” Himawari-chan said happily, Tanpopo chirping in agreement.

Watanuki sighed as Doumeki smirked. Himawari-chan beamed at them happily, and Watanuki returned her smile weakly. “Himawari-chan, do you really think we get along so well?”

“Of course,” she said. “After all, Doumeki-kun and Watanuki-kun care about each other a lot, which is why you get along so well.”

There really wasn’t any response he could give for that which didn’t end in him making a fool of himself, so he let it go, glaring across the table at Doumeki, who was ordering three tea sets from the waitress.

“How is Yuuko-san, Watanuki-kun?” Himawari-chan asked when the waitress left.

Watanuki narrowed his eyes. “She’s insufferable,” he began. “She’s making me clean the treasure room **again** because Mokona knocked a shelf down, and she has me preparing a guest room for someone who will be visiting next week.”

Doumeki frowned. “She’s letting someone stay in the shop?”

Watanuki nodded. “She says that their coming is hitsuzen.”

The waitress returned then, placing the sandwiches in front of them and pouring the tea. Watanuki thanked the waitress, who bowed and left.

“That’s odd,” Himawari-chan said finally. “Maybe it’s a friend of hers?”

“Yuuko-san doesn’t have friends. She has victims,” Watanuki deadpanned.

“And idiots,” Doumeki added, finishing off his sandwich.

“I am not – and where did your sandwich go? – an idiot!” Watanuki denied, slapping Doumeki’s hands away from where they were hovering over his plate. “This is **my** plate, Doumeki!”

Doumeki shrugged, while Himawari-chan laughed. Watanuki glared, splitting his sandwich in two and giving Doumeki the smaller half. “That’s all you’re getting, Doumeki.”

They finished eating, and Doumeki took the check, staring Watanuki down when he offered to pay for his and Himawari-chan’s part. 

“I’ve got it,” he said.

Himawari-chan smiled and led Watanuki outside, Doumeki following behind them.

“Alright,” Watanuki said. “Where are we going?”

“The movies,” Himawari-chan told him.

“Eh?” Watanuki frowned. “The movies? But, what does Yuuko-san want from the movies?”

“She wants us to watch a movie,” Doumeki supplied. 

“That doesn’t sound right,” Watanuki hesitated. “Why would she tell us to go to the movies?”

“Because Watanuki-kun needs a day off,” Himawari-chan said. “He works too hard, and we never see him unless it’s at school.”

“And you can cook dinner after,” Doumeki added.

“I am not cooking you dinner, Doumeki!”

“I bought lunch,” he reminded him.

“I offered to pay!” Watanuki shot back.

“But Doumeki-kun said that since I set up our date, he would pay,” Himawari-chan reasoned.

Date? What date? Watanuki was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

“What date?” he asked.

“The one we’re on!” Himawari-chan said happily. “Watanuki-kun said he wanted to take me out, right? And Doumeki-kun wanted to take you out, and I wanted to go out with both of you.”

“But… A date would mean that- that we’re…” Watanuki trailed off, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“Dating,” Doumeki said helpfully.

“We are **not** dating,” Watanuki said clearly, poking Doumeki in the chest. “And you aren’t dating Himawari-chan, either. And this isn’t a date.”

“We’ll be late for our movie,” Doumeki said easily.

“But! Weren’t you listening to me, Doumeki?!” Watanuki yelled.

“Yuuko-san said that if Doumeki-kun goes with us to the movies, you can go, too,” Himawari-chan said, and Watanuki had to wonder exactly _what_ they had paid for Yuuko-san to agree to this.

But, he realized, Yuuko-san would have probably done it for free to see him cringe.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll go to the movies, but _I’m_ sitting next to Himawari-chan, Doumeki,” he informed the other man.

“You’ll sit in the middle, then,” Doumeki said, nodding.

-

Movie theatres, he decided, were against him. The seats were too damn small, and far too close for his comfort. Not that he minded being close to Himawari-chan, or even Doumeki on the occasion where Doumeki was saving his life, but being close to them after being informed that they were on a date in the guise of a mission from Yuuko-san was definitely not something he was thrilled about.

“You’re hogging the popcorn, Doumeki,” Watanuki hissed, shoving his hand into the bag and bumping it against Doumeki’s.

He was glad the theatre was dark. He was also glad that he had control of Yuuko-san’s liquor cabinet, because she wasn’t getting anything after this.

“Would you like some soda, Watanuki-kun? Doumeki-kun?” Himawari-chan asked, holding the cup out.

Watanuki took it, taking a sip, before handing it off to Doumeki, who handed him the popcorn and licorice to give to Himawari-chan.

It all seemed bizarrely normal, except he would never share a drink with Doumeki. The giant lug would drink it all.

The movie started and they settled into their seat, passing the snacks back and forth. It was at end of the movie when he realized that Doumeki’s arm was slung across the back of his chair, and Himawari-chan was holding his hand. 

He stiffened in his chair, and the other two must have noticed, because Himawari-chan squeezed his hand while Doumeki flicked his ear. He turned to glare at Doumeki, who was staring straight ahead at the movie.

-

They walked him back to his apartment after the end of the movie.

Watanuki unlocked the door to his apartment before turning to look at them. “Well,” he started, feeling his face flush. “T-thank you, Himawari-chan.” He was not thanking Doumeki. Nope. Not happening. “I had fun.”

“Food,” Doumeki reminded him.

“I am not making you dinner, Doumeki!” Watanuki repeated forcefully.

“It’s okay, Watanuki-kun,” Himawari-chan said. “If you don’t want to, we won’t make you.”

“Himawari-chan is so kind,” Watanuki gushed, before glaring at Doumeki. “You could stand to be nicer.”

Doumeki sighed. “Fine. Food. Please.”

“Still with that rude tone,” Watanuki huffed. “Fine, but I’m only making you food because I want to thank Himawari-chan for such a nice day.”

“Doumeki-kun helped plan it,” she said. “And Yuuko-san, too.”

Doumeki kicked off his shoes and slipped into a guest pair of slippers. He flopped onto the couch and picked up one of the volumes of manga that was sitting on the coffee table, waiting to be read.

“Who says you can just come into my place and read my manga?” Watanuki demanded, getting another pair of guest slippers for Himawari-chan. “Don’t you have any respect or common sense?”

“Doumeki-kun seems to know your place really well, Watanuki-kun,” Himawari-chan remarked. “Has he been here before?”

“Climbed through his window a few times,” Doumeki replied, flipping the page. “Oi. Watanuki. Sukiyaki.”

“I don’t have the ingredients to make sukiyaki,” Watanuki informed him haughtily. “You’ll eat whatever I make.”

Doumeki shrugged. “Whatever.”

Himawari-chan looked around the room. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“No,” he said, smiling. “Just relax. You can push the jerk over so you can sit on the couch, too.”

He entered the kitchen to find a note on his stove.

‘Watanuki:

Here’s some stuff you’ll probably need tonight. Enjoy yourself~!

-Yuuko’

He opened the fridge to find the ingredient to make the sukiyaki. He also noticed that the cooking wine Chitose-san had given him was gone.

Where the wine used to be was another note:

‘Equal exchange.’

-

Yuuko-san and Mokona were waiting for him at the gate the next day.

“Did you have fun, Watanuki?” she asked.

“You took my wine,” he glared.

“I left a note,” she pointed out. “It was very good wine, wasn’t it?”

Mokona nodded in approval.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said evenly. “It’ s the last you’re getting for a long, long, **long** time.”

Yuuko-san grinned. “Is that so?”

Watanuki nodded. 

“How sad! After I helped you finally get a date!”

“I never asked for that!” Watanuki screeched, stalking off towards the shop, Mokona bouncing after him.

“Some wishes aren’t always asked for,” she called after him. Watanuki wanted to ask what that meant, but before he could, she continued. “And I’ll be collecting the price for a long time!”

He entered the shop and slammed the door behind him.


End file.
